What's a grandmother to do?

This was fun.  Our seven-year-old grandson came to dinner at our place following an afternoon movie.  He is very interested in cooking thanks to input from his father and other grandma.  This was such a delightful time for us that I reluctantly speak of the movie.

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," is a quirky title of a very popular children's book.  I'd heard of it and wondered.  Before we left NYC, there was a very upbeat review in the New York Times.  Surely this would be more appropriate for Zach than the one we tried a couple of years ago, "Ratatouille."  In this "Common Sense" rating system, it was pronounced swell even though 100% of parents said, "too violent."  Yes, it  scared our grandchild, puzzled us; we fled early.

He was anxious to go to "Meatballs."  A movie is a rare experience in his TV-less household where he only sees children's videos.  Sunday afternoon at Lloyd Center in downtown PDX--a mob scene.  We watched, thought it would never end.  Zach loved it.What's my problem here?  In "Willamette Week," Aaron Mesh had a single complaint in his review:

Ron Barrett’s original pen-and-ink illustrations were intricate and moody, filled with awe and mystery as well as peanut-butter-and-jelly blizzards. The edibles that fall from the sky in Sony’s CGI cartoon look like Fisher Price play food...

For me there was a disgusting aspect to the stuff. The excessive size and intensity of the food presented the too-muchness as something to be desired.  And it went on too long.  And what was the idea behind the stereotyped African-American policeman?  He was presented as a heavy with a heart of gold, redeemed by loving his little son.  Strange. 

And the father of the hero, the only person of age in the film, was a heavy-footed who really did not get his son's ideas.  Especially as they all related to his (how old was he supposed to be?) computer science wizardry.  Father did not even know how to turn the damned computer on--a crucial task in the adventure.  Piling up the cliches was the air-headed girl reporter who turns out to be smart toward the end.  Can't remember whether this was when she put on eyeglasses or took them off. 

Well, I survived those classic Disney mother-loss dramas "Snow White" and "Bambi," so Zach will no doubt weather (oops, unintended pun) "Meatballs" with his own family's values intact.

Comments

[Hattie]

I consider all these movies as transgressions against childhood. There is a fairly good article on this subject on Salon (too lazy to look it up). It's all phony-baloney anyway.
Glad your grandkids don't have TV. It's pernicious, that's what.
We're killing kids' imaginations. The kids are already under intense supervision and mind control as it is.

[joared]

Yeah, I'm a Bambi survivor, too, and other pet story books that didn't always turn out too well. Where does one draw the line about protecting our children from some of life's negatives? Perhaps a limited gradual introduction involving creatures other than human can be a tempered in which to learn of some of life's harsher sides.

I recall first the loss of guppies if we didn't darken the bowl or remove the newborns lest the mother eat them. Then, a few years living on a farm with the realism of animal life served to expose me to life's realities.

Yes, I agree about television and the need to learn selectivity and judgment about allocating time, the choices made on how to use it and for what. So many addictive choices today, including the computer.

[m.e.]

i'll be interested in your take on "Where the Wild Things Are
'

[Hattie]

It's not just a matter of protecting them from the sad realities. It's also a matter of taste. I am not a purist about the crap that's out there for kids, but there are limits to what a child should be exposed to in the way of junk.

[kay Dennison]

I recall the stuff we saw as children pre-ratings in movies and television. We not only survived it, but we grew up and most of us became productive adults. We knew it was make believe. Does anyone tell their kids that today?

[Hattie]

Well, some of us became productive adults, but then some of us didn't. I'm just thinking about cultural matters.